Ryan Cidzik joined Columbia's staff as the Director of
Strength and Conditioning for Football and Outdoor Sports in July of 2012. He also directs the Strength and Conditioning Center at The Campbell Sports Center.

Cidzik brings nearly a decade of NFL and
collegiate experience as a strength and conditioning coach to the
Columbia football program. His work with the development of collegiate
and professional athletes and the prevention of concussions have made
him a highly-respected coach.

Cidzik spent the previous two seasons as
a strength and conditioning coach for the University of Memphis
football team. He served as the assistant football strength and
conditioning coach in 2010 and was promoted to head football strength
and conditioning coach in 2011. Cidzik was directly responsible for the
physical and mental development of the student-athletes.

Under Cidzik’s direction, Memphis’
football players thrived in the weight room. The team’s overall weight
room strength increased by 60 percent from January 2010 through July
2011. In 2011, the Tigers’ team body fat decreased by an average of four
pounds while muscle mass increased by five pounds. Cidzik also
supervised the training of 2011 NFL first-round draft pick Dontari Poe
(11th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs), helping the 6-4, 352-pound
defensive tackle achieve a 4.87 40-yard dash time, 44 bench press reps, a
500-pound max bench press and a 750-pound max squat.

Before joining the Memphis coaching
staff, Cidzik spent two years as an assistant strength and conditioning
coach in the NFL. From 2009-10, he worked with the New York Jets and was
directly responsible for the physical development of all offensive and
defensive linemen, while assisting with skill and mid-skill players.
Cidzik helped rank the Jets the fifth least injured team in the NFL, and
also helped them to the AFC Championship game during the 2009 season.

Prior to his time with the New York
Jets, Cidzik was an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the
Cleveland Browns from 2008-09. He implemented football-specific strength
training, speed development, conditioning, rehab and flexibility
programs for all Browns' players. He was also a volunteer assistant with
the Browns in 2007. Cidzik was also the league strength and
conditioning coordinator for NFL International Player Development for
NFL Europe from 2004-07.

Cidzik has a wealth of experience
coaching in the college ranks. He served as head strength and
conditioning coach at Northwestern State University in Louisiana
(2006-08), assistant strength and conditioning coach at Louisiana Tech
(2003-06) and volunteer assistant at the University of Richmond (2003).

Cidzik was a four-year letterwinner and
two-year starter at fullback for Susquehanna University from 1997
through 2000, helping the Crusaders win conference championships in 1998
and 1999.

After his college football days, Cidzik
became an accomplished powerlifter who has achieved Elite-Level status
as a drug-free lifter. He has held powerlifting records in five
different states, was a two-time national champion at 220 pounds. Cidzik
is the American Powerlifting Association's (APA) former world record
holder in the squat. His best competitive lifts include a 786 lb. squat,
a 500 lb. bench, and a 624 deadlift. Cidzik also competed Muay Thai,
International Rules, and Full Contact Rules kickboxer from 1997 to 2002
and again in 2008.

Cidzik is considered by many to be one
of the nation's most respected coaches on the topic of concussion
prevention for football players. He has spoken at various conferences
and published articles on his innovative system of neck testing and
training methods for contact sport athletes.

A native of Rome, N.Y., Cidzik earned
his bachelor's degree from Susquehanna in 2001 and earned his master's
degree of exercise science from Louisiana Tech in 2005. He is a
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a Registered
Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC), a USA Weightlifting Certified
Level-1 Club Coach, and is certified in Orthopedic Assessment (AIAM).

He and his wife, Aimee, welcomed their first child, Steele Thomas in December 2011.